Followers for filing cabinets



Sept. 29, 1959 R. E. M CLELLAN 2,906,259

FOLLOWERS FOR FILING CABINETS Filed July 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1-awe/Yukon U i 56. m

Sept. 29, 1959 R. E. MCCLELLAN 2,906,269

FOLLOWERS VFOR FILING CABINETS Filed July 11, 1955 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2wise t FOLLOWERS FOR FILING CABINETS Ralph E. McClellan, Toledo, Ohio,assignor to Meilink Steel Safe Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Application July 11, 1955, Serial No. 521,062

4 Claims. (Cl. 129-28) This invention relates to an improvement infollowers for filing cabinets. More particularly, it deals with afollower pivotally mounted on a support that is slidable along andlatchable to a track in the bottom of a drawer of a filing cabinet.It'is an object of this invention to produce an ethcient, simple,effective and economic follower for a filing cabinet that is readilyproduced, easy to assemble and install, and easily operated and adjustedafter it is installed.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a follower whichcompresses the papers on edge in a drawer more at their bottoms than attheir tops when they are held in place by the follower.

Another object is to provide such a follower which when unlatched slideseasily along and maintains its align ment with its track, and in whichthe unlatching mechanism is readily accessible near the top of thefollower.

Generally speaking, the follower for a filing cabinet of fli-isinvention comprises a notched track mounted along the bottom of a filedrawer, a supporting bracket slidable along said track, a follower platepivotally mounted on the bracket, and a latching mechanism for lockingthe bracket to the notched track. The bracket has a base and an extendedor riser portion to which the follower plate is pivoted. The base of thebracket is provided with a plurality of spaced self-lubricating pads forengagement with the track to maintain the bracket in alignment with thetrack at all times. The latching mechanism comprises a latch mounted inthe riser portion of the slidable supporting bracket, which latch isnormally resiliently urged into locking engagement with one of thenotches in the track to lock the follower assembly from sliding alongthe track. A slidable latch operator is provided on the back of thepivoted follower plate, which is hingedly connected to the latchsubstantially coaxial with the axis of the pivot for the follower plate,whereby the latch may be readily operated by its operator from near thetop of the follower plate, regardless of the tilt of the follower plate.Important features of these elements reside in their actual shapes andconstructions which insure the ready assembling and operation of thedevice including its latching mechanism.

' The above mentioned and other features and objects of this inventionand the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and theinvention itself will be best understood by reference to the followingdescription of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective top view with parts broken away of an embodimentof the follower of this invention installed in a drawer of a filingcabinet;-

Fig. 2 is a larger rear elevation of the follower in a track of thedrawer of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of a portion of the notched trackshown in the previous figures with the latching end of the latch on thefollower shown in dot-ted lines in latching position in one of thenotches;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the lower portion of Fig. 2,

showing an 'end of the base of the support for the follower platemounted in the track, and the latch mounted thereon in full lines in itslatched position;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged bottom view of the base of the follower support,with parts thereof broken away;

Fig. 6 is an enlerged detailed view of one of the four lubricating sounddeadening shoe pads that is mounted on the base of the follower supportshown in Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line VIIVH ofFig. 2 illustrating the mounting for the pivoted follower plate on thefollower support with the follower plate in its limited tilted positionand with parts of the base of the follower support and track thereforbeing broken away; I V

Fig. 8 is a further enlarged vertical section through the upper end ofthe follower support showing how the latch and latch actuator areconnected together when the follower plate is in its other limited orvertical position; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged rear elevation of the latching mechanism on thefollower and follower support as viewed from the right of Fig. 8, butwith parts thereof being broken away;

A cabinet or case 1 (Fig. l) is shown with a front opening 2 to haveslidably inserted therein a drawer having a front 3, a bottom 4 and sidewalls 5. Rivet or other anchoring means 6 (Fig. 3) may fixedly assemblethe bottom 4 to a channel track 7 having overhanging flanges 8 which aresufiiciently spaced from the drawer front 3 to permit assembly of afollower with the track at this point. The track 7 has a series ofparallel slots; notches or seats 9 in the channel web extendingtransversely of the track general direction.

A panel or follower 10 is shown as havingbackwardly directed from itscentral area, a pair of aligned pivotbearing-providing ears 1 1 coactingwith a pair of spaced ears 12 projecting upwardly from a verticalchannel section 13 of an L-shaped follower supporting bracket havingahorizontal U-base section 14. Each leg of the U- section has twonotches providing seats 15 for a noise deadener and self-lubricatingblock or pad 16, say of nylon. Notch 17 (Fig. 6) in the pad 16 is ofgreater depth than the notch 15. Accordingly, with the pad 16 thusseated in section 14 of the L-bracket 13', 14, the panel 10 may beshifted along the track 7 and there is no tendency for the pad 16 towork loose or change position as to the section 14.

The section 13 medially of the cross-over or base of the U-section 14has rising vertically from the plane of the section 14 a U-shapedopening or slot 118 as a guide or clearway for central base rod 19 (Fig.4). File spacers also may be freely mounted on this rod 19 to preventthem from being lifted out of the file drawer when papers between themare removed. A leaf spring 20 (Fig. 7) has fixed mounting 21 in the webor channel of the section 13 with its lower free end of flexing value,thereby tending to tilt the top portion of the follower plate 10 awayfrom the front of the drawer. This means there is tendency for theclosely placed follower to act to compress the files near the rod 19,but as the follower 10 is released, the follower top swings out for morefreedom to remove or place papers in the file.

T he latch An end or tip 22 of slide 23 (Figs. 2, 3' and 4) isreciprocable to engage and disengage a seat or slot 9 in the track 7 asanchored with the drawer bottom 4. Adjacent the tip 22 there is anopening or clearway 24 through the slide 23 through which may freelypass the spacer carrying rod 19. The web of the channel section 13 hasformed inward therefrom a pair of ears 25 (Figs.

8 and 9) providing therebetween a guideway of less than the overallwidth of the slide 23.

At the opposite end of the slide 23 from its tip 22, is a pair of offsethooks 26 (Fig. 8) with a spacing ledge 27 (Figs. 8, 9) between them inthe plane of the slide 23. Of slightly greater width than the width ofthe hooks 26 are opposite cut-ins or notches 28 in the slide 23, leavinga spacing tongue 29 of the slide 23 so that the tips of the pairs ofears 25 from the bracket 13 may slip therethrough for assembly purposes.The tips 30 of these ears 25 thus provide overhang at slightly widertongue region 31 extending for approximately twice the width of the ears25 away from the notches 28, with the slide full width from thence on tothe tip 22. This slide 23 is the latch proper. In the region between theends of opening 24 and the ends of tongue guide 31, which limit theslide normally to reciprocate in use, there is a pushed out hook 32astride which may be located a wire spring 33 having its ends 34 extendthrough openings 35 in the flanges of the channel section 13. The set ofthis spring 33 is for such to have a down-pull at all times on the slide23, thus to urge the tip 22, as in register with a seat 9, to entersuch.

The latch actuator A rockable coupling or joint is provided by apushpull bar 36. Adjacent to its lower end 37 are two opposing notches38 (Figs. 8, 9), one from each side of the bar 36 and located in anoff-set section 39 at the same end of the bar 36. This off-set not onlypermits the major portion of the bar 36 to be parallel with the slide 23(Fig. 8) but also to have a relative rocking movement between the hooks26 which loosely fit in the notches 38, which movement is limited in onedirection by the end 37 contacting the slide 23 below the hooks 26, andalso by ends of the hooks 26 contacting the offset section 39 of the bar36. Thus, there is a relative movement between the two interlocking endsof the slidable latch 23 and the slidable latch actuator 36 so that whenthe plate upon which the latch actuator 36 is slidably mounted is movedfrom its vertical to its tilted position shown in Fig. 7, the notch 38slides transversely of the axis of the pivot 11 along the ledge 27toward the right as shown in Fig. 8, and then in the opposite directionalong the ledge 27 when the latch actuator 36 is pulled upwardly whilethe plate 10 remains in its tilted position.

Assembly of the slide 23 with the bar 36 is accomplished by placing thebar 36 at right angles to the slide 23 and slipping the ends of thehooks 26 into the notches 38 and then rotating the bar 36 until it isparallel with the slide 36 (Fig. 8), so that the notches 38 ride on theoff-set portion of the hooks 26. The space or width of the notches 38with respect to the width of the off-set section of the hooks 26 aresuflicient to provide a loose connection so that the bar 26 may haveabout a 20 angle tilt or pivot about the off-set portion of the hooks 26from the full line positions shown in Fig. 8.

The bar 36 is assembled directly with the follower plate 10 by means ofa guide strip 44 with an off-set central section for straddling thelatch actuator bar 36 as shown in Figs. 7 and 9. One end of the guide 44may be inserted in an off-set slot 42 and the other end of the guide 44may be suificiently large to permit room for a rivet or like means 45for fastening the supporting guide 44 to the back of the tilting plate10 and to maintain its free end in the slot 42 and still permit readylongitudinal sliding of the bar 36 through the off-set central sectionof guide 44 for operation of the latch 23. So that the lower end of thebar 36 is in approximate alignment with the upper end of the slide 23and the joint 26, 38, is close to being coaxial with the pivot bearings11. Remote from the offset 39, the bar 36 has an angle free end 46,which may serve as a finger hold for pulling the bar 36 and with it thehinge connected slide 23 to withdraw the slide tip 22 from engagementwith a seat 9. As thus released, in the pull against the action of thespring 33, the follower unit may be shifted for the section 14 to bedirected by the track 7, 8, for larger spacing at the files. With bottompressure thus released on the follower plate 10, the spring 20 tends torock the plate top back for further clearance in access to and handlingof the file papers.

It is to be noted that the configuration of the parts is such that thepivot bearings 11 effect the operative assembly of the follower with itsslidable mounting and the range of adjustment therefor throughout thelength of the drawer. In this assembly, there is clearance between theend of the track 7 toward the drawer front 3 which is sufiicient for thesection 14 to be entered.

What is claimed and it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A drawer and drawer follower comprising: a track along the bottom ofsaid drawer having a series of seats therein, an L-shaped followersupport having substantially equal length base and upright portions,said base being slidable along said track, a pivot near the upper end ofsaid upright portion, a follower plate connected at a point spacedinwardly from the lower edge of said plate to said pivot, means on saidupright portion for limiting the tilting movement of said follower plateabout said pivot from a substantially vertical position abutting againstthe inside of said upright portion to an angular position therewith, alatch slidably mounted on said upright portion and slidable between aposition in engagement with said seats along said track and a raisedposition clear of said seats, a latch actuator slidably mounted on saidplate above said pivot and slidable between upper and lower positions tomove said latch between its said positions, and a hinged connectionbetween said latch and said actuator near the axis of said pivot with aportion of said actuator engaging said latch and movable relativethereto in one direction transverse of the axis of said pivot as saidplate is moved from its said vertical to its said angular position, andsaid portion movable in an opposite direction as said actuator is movedto move said latch to its raised position when said plate is in its saidangular position, whereby said latch may be operated by said latchactuator in any angular position between the limits of tilting movementof said follower plate.

2. A drawer and drawer follower according to claim 1 wherein said baseincludes a plurality of self-lubricating pads for spacing it from saidtrack for ready slidable movement along said track when said latch is inits raised position clear of said seats.

3. A drawer and drawer follower according to claim 1 wherein said hingedconnection between the upper end of said latch and the lower end of saidlatch actuator comprises interfitted hooks and notches.

4. A drawer and drawer follower according to claim 1 including aresilient means for normally urging said latch into engagement with saidseats.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS726,430 Hine Apr. 28, 1903 1,899,530 Schade Feb. 28, 1933 2,281,464Staubel Apr. 28, 1942 2,312,742 Andersen Mar. 2, 1943 2,330,976 Jones eta1 Oct. 15, 1943 2,606,091 Buchy et a1. Aug. 5, 1952

